Tyler, the inciter, is entitled to create controversy

Denham Sadler

Rapped: Tyler, the Creator is constantly surrounded by controversy, entirely of his own making, something that he gleefully embraces.

It is completely defendable and rational to argue that Tyler Gregory Okonma, aka Tyler, the Creator, is an immature, offensive and deplorable individual who doesn't deserve the recognition and attention he has received, but it is another thing entirely to argue that he should be denied entry to our country.

To curtail the rapper's freedom of speech and possibly deport him for offensive and aggressive lyrics would set a dangerous precedent towards controversial and experimental art.

Tyler is constantly surrounded by controversy, entirely of his own making, something that he gleefully embraces. His lyrics have been branded misogynist, homophobic, racist and pretty much everything else in the book. And upon hearing them, it's easy to see how people are offended by them.

In response to such criticism, the rapper has stated on several occasions that it is part of his musical persona, a satirical take that is never supposed to be taken seriously. Tyler's schtick doesn't revolve around singling out any one gender or race, but rather encompasses a nihilistic tirade against everyone and everything, a supposed parody of general hip-hop culture.

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In a piece published by The Guardian, Talitha Stone detailed the abuse she received from fans after being retweeted by Tyler, and the apparently personal attack delivered at the following concert. Stone, a feminist activist who lives in Sydney, calls for the rapper's visa to be revoked due to the lyrics “inciting hatred”.

To insinuate that producers of violent media content are inciting violent behaviour is treading a very fine line, and recalls the arguments of outdated hypodermic models of the media which view a passive, brain-dead audience copying everything they see and hear.

Stone specifically tweeted the artist regarding her plans to protest his upcoming in-store appearance, and then proceeded to be outraged when he responded by retweeting this message to his 1.7 million followers. If Stone wasn't seeking a reaction from Tyler, then addressing the tweet directly to him achieved nothing, and gave him the exact publicity that he desires.

The inevitable response from a select portion of the legion of Tyler fans was inarguably vile and undeserved, with a large amount of vitriol directed at Stone, but to impart the blame for this on the rapper, rather than the immature keyboard warriors that sent them, is baseless and confounding.

Despite admitting to feeling “threatened” by fans of Tyler, the Creator, Talitha Stone decided to go to the one place where she knew she would be completely surrounded by them: a Tyler concert in Sydney (not to mention paying $80 in support of the artist), and preceded to film the artist making a typically offensive, expletive-filled tirade, which which she apparently felt was aimed at her.

Tyler, who had no knowledge of Stone's bewildering attendance at the concert, was playing on his offensive persona and reputation, and espoused some typical vitriol consisting mostly of immature name-calling and over-the-top insults.

Name-calling, however hostile and vile it may be, does not immediately constitute “inciting violence”, and to have an artist deported for producing music that certain people find offensive would be a scary precedent and an infringement on our heralded freedom of speech.

If Tyler has glorified and encouraged murder and violence through art, then so has the vast majority of Hollywood films and popular television programs.

Should we also ban the popular TV show Dexter, which takes viewers into the dark and twisted mind of a serial killer?

Should we have also deported Bruce Springsteen during his recent national tour for singing about how “fun” it was when he “killed everything in [his] path” on Nebraska?

Although Tyler is a far more extreme version of these examples, it is the same basic principle: what is said in song, and in any form of media for that matter, shouldn't immediately be taken to be a representation of the views of the artist behind it, nor as incitements for fans to copy what is portrayed.

Nobody actually believes that Bruce Springsteen went on a mass-murdering rampage in Lincoln, Nebraska, and the writers of Dexter aren't criminally liable should a crazed individual become inspired by the content of the show. These same ideals must be applied to Tyler, the Creator. Despite the deliberately offensive nature of his music, he must be allowed to make it and perform it for those who are willing to listen.

It's inconsequential whether these are Tyler's actual beliefs, whether they are a satirical parody, or whether you are personally offended and outraged by them, he still has a right to say them, and to claim that he should be censored and banned is merely getting in the way of what the real debate should be.

To argue that an individual artist is misogynist due to the content of his lyrics, and that these lyrics are producing a generation of like-minded people, is overshadowing and cheapening the highly relevant and unfortunately prevalent issue of true misogynists, homophobes and violent individuals in our society.

Denham Sadler is a journalism student at RMIT. He is not a fan of Tyler, the Creator.